


Alternative Arrangements

by bayoublackjack



Series: Love in London [4]
Category: Royal Pains
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Multiple Crossovers, POV Divya Katdare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 15:51:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1947054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Divya Katdare was never meant to be a doctor.  Her parents expected her to get an MBA, marry her childhood friend Raj, and work at his business.  Unhappy with the degree of control they tried to exert over her, Divya began studying medicine without her parents' knowledge and eventually worked her way up the ladder to a high ranking position at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.  Now that she has her dream job, the only missing from her perfect life is someone to share it with.  If her parents had their way, she’d be married off to someone of their choosing, but Divya wants to marry for love.  So until she finds Mr. Right, a fake fiancé in the form of the introverted Dr Jeremiah Sacani will hopefully keep her parents off her back</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alternative Arrangements

Divya silently wondered how many times they could have the same conversation.  ‘At least once more,’ she answered in her head when her parents started in with their usual spiel about marriage.  She tuned them out and shuffled the papers on her desk, sporadically throwing out a murmur or affirmative nod to give the impression that she was actively listening.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get married.  She did.  She’d be lying if she said she had never had fantasizes about herself in a long white dress, or occasionally a red Benarasi sari.  But each time the groom had been a man of her own choosing.  It wasn’t that she had anything against arranged marriage.  She just knew it wasn’t for her.

A few years ago, Divya had very nearly given in to the pressure to marry her childhood friend, Raj Bandyopadhyay, but that was before she realized that her sister Saya’s marriage was a sham and both she and her husband Sanjay were having affairs.  Since then, even Divya’s parents had broken up.  Neither event did much to sway Divya into accepting her parents’ help in securing a prospective groom.  No, when Divya got married, it was definitely going to be for love.

“Divya,” her father’s voice broke her from her thoughts.  “Are you listening?”

“Yes, father,” Divya answered.  She picked up a folder and scanned the documents inside.  “I just have a lot on my mind.  I have a NHS meeting coming up and I need to make sure that both the hospital and I are prepared.”

“See I told you, Devesh.  This wasn’t a good time,” her mother chastised him.

“How often are we all in the same place, Rubina?” he asked.  “Divya here, me in New York and you in Italy.”

“How is Marcello by the way?” Divya asked her mother.

The mention of her new husband brought a smile to Rubina’s face.  “Wonderful.”

Divya smiled back.  “You look happy.”

Rubina nodded.  “I am.”

“Happily married,” Devesh pointed.

Divya sighed.  “A woman can find happiness outside of a marriage,” she told her father.  “I have work and my friends.”

“And no children,” Devesh replied.  “I’m getting older.  I can’t wait for grandchildren forever.”

“Then perhaps you should be having this conversation with Saya and Sanjay,” Divya countered.

“He’s given up on that,” Rubina informed her daughter.

“Saya is older than you,” Devesh said.  “As a doctor, you should know that you are the safer bet.”

“No pressure there,” Divya retorted sarcastically.

“So in order for that to happen, we need to get you married.”

“You know I could just adopt,” Divya told her parents.  It wasn’t really part of her plan to be a single mother, but neither was whatever her father was undoubtedly planning.

“If you did, your mother and I would love that child as if he or she was of our own blood,” Devesh insisted.  “But…”

“But you’d prefer to have one that was,” Divya guessed.

“At least for the first one,” Devesh responded.

“There is artificial insemination,” Divya suggested.

“If you would do that to have a child, then why not agree to an arranged marriage to find a husband?”

And there it was.  Divya has realised two seconds too late that she had walked right into this argument.  “Those are two completely different things and you know it,” she said seriously.  “For starters, there is a thorough and extensive process to securing sperm donors, which I’d be an active part of,” she pointed out.  “Just as I would in selecting my own future husband.”

“You’re never too grown to ask for your parents’ help,” Devesh said.

“I don’t need your help finding a husband,” Divya assured him.  Her mobile began to ring and she glanced down at the screen.  “I need to take this,” she told her parents before answering.  “Jeremiah?  Yes.  No, now isn’t a bad time.”  She glanced at her parents and turned her chair slightly to move away from their scrutiny.  “How did it go?  Really?  Oh that’s brilliant!  So it’s official?  I’m so happy for you.”  She paused to listen to him talk.  “Are you sure?  I’d hate to put you out.  It’s just that we’ve lived together before and I really feel as though I’m overstaying my welcome with Joan.”  She nodded.  “Yes, of course.  Then it’s settled.  I’ll see you when you get to town.  Bye for now.”

Rubina regarded Divya with interest when she turned around.  “Jeremiah?  You’ve never mentioned a Jeremiah to us before.”

“Dr Jeremiah Sacani,” Divya answered.  “We met while I was in New York.”

“Did you say that you’ve lived with him?” Devesh questioned.

“About that…”  Divya drew in a deep breath and prepared herself for a lecture.

Divya was sure that her parents had gotten the wrong idea about the nature of her relationship with Jeremiah, but it was completely innocent.  After she had finished at university, Divya moved to the States for a few years, specifically New York.  While she was there, she had made the acquaintance of a few American doctors including Joan Watson and Jeremiah Sacani.

When Divya had called off her wedding to Raj, her father cut her off financially and Jeremiah was kind enough to allow her to stay with him.  Jeremiah had experience as a concierge doctor in the Hamptons and the company he was working with had plans to extend their services to the UK.  As such, Jeremiah recently purchased a home in London and once again offered to share his accommodations with Divya.  She was thankful for his timing.  Currently, her living arrangement was the guest room in Joan’s house.  Joan was in the middle of an upheaval herself.  She’d either get back together with John or go back to New York with Sherlock, either way, Divya would end up on the streets, or worse back living with one of her parents.

“Divya, how could you keep this from us?” Devesh asked.

“Honestly, I never meant to,” Divya insisted.  “It just sort of happened so quickly and after what happened with Raj, I didn’t think you’d be pleased.”

“Truthfully, I would prefer that he were Indian, but this is still good news,” her father said.

Divya frowned.  “It is?”

“Of course!”  Devesh looked at Rubina.  “Our Divya has finally found a man.”

Divya gaped at his words.  “What?”

“It must be serious if you’re living with him,” Rubina insisted.

“Serious?” Divya repeated.

“When do we get to meet this Jeremiah?” her mother asked.

“Soon,” Divya answered without thinking.

“I should hope so,” Devesh said.  “If you’re living together, a wedding can’t be too far off.”

“Actually…”  Divya paused.  “It was meant to be a surprise,” she lied.  “I wanted to wait until Jeremiah was here and we could tell you together.  Tell _everyone_ really.”

“This is the best news I’ve heard all day,” Devesh said happily.  “My little Divya is finally to going to be a bride.”

“Yes.”  Divya forced a smile.  “But just so you know, Jeremiah and I will probably be having a _long_ engagement,” she told her parents.  “We want to make sure that everything is just right.”

“Don’t worry,” Rubina assured her.  “We will spare no expense.  It’ll be the perfect wedding.”

“The perfect wedding,” Divya said as she cringed inwardly.  The only problem was that there wasn’t actually a groom.


End file.
